Deep buyer's motivations

October 29, 2015

Lastly, I wrote an article about Marketing basics for product positionning and espacially about the importance every product marketer has to attach to a well-understanding of the problem to be solved for the targeted audience. But below the surface, I also believe it is crucial to catch the deep buying motivation(s) of the target in order to deliver a compelling product message.

Below the Surface, 4 Deep Motivations

Let's say 99% of B2B SaaS products buyers would have 1 of the 4 following motivations deep in mind. And I think this can also be applied for every kind of product. The 4 deep motivations:

Generate Revenue

Save Time

Save Cost

Feel Good

Generate Revenue

Products that help companies to generate more revenue / more leads / more closing / more customers, talk for themselves. So you'll naturally find products that help you to "increase", "improve", "grow", "accelerate", "generate", "engage", "close".

Mailchimp => Join more than 14 million people who use MailChimp to grow their businesses.

Save Time

Basically, saving time products help people and companies to improve productivity and focus on things that really matter to run their business. In this category, you'll find products that help you to "optimize", "organize", "save", "cut", "measure", automate", "scale".

Slack => Be less busy.

Basecamp => It’s the saner, organized way to manage projects. It’s a game changer.

Intercom => Use targeted, automated messages to onboard new users, announce new features, and re-engage people that slip away.

Save Cost

Saving costs products help companies to run a scalable healthy business. Here, you'll find products that help you "measure", "understand", "monitor", "optimize", "reduce".

Skype => Free calls to friends and family.

Amazon Web Services => Use Amazon EC2, S3 and more - Free for a full year.

Stripe => We handle billions of dollars every year for forward-thinking businesses around the world.

Feel Good

Feel good products may be the most difficult to explain because there's no rational reason why you need them. Let's say that you personnally feel much better with than without doing your job or simply experiencing positive moments.

Uber => Your day belongs to you.

AirBNB Business => Travel for work, feel at home.

Deliveroo => Your favourite restaurants, delivered fast to your door.

Benefits vs. Motivations

In a post, Jason Cohen (A Smart Bear) highlighted the fact that deep motivations should be reflected in all your message, but should not be the value proposition of your product. Otherwise, there would only have 4 value propositions. Your product is unique, so is your value proposition.

Let's take Google AdWords as an example. The deep buyer motivation is Generate Revenue (no secret with that), but the value proposition is Get your business found on the Web, which is itself declined in 4 main benefits on their website:

Attract more customers

Reach the right people at the right time

Advertise locally or globally

Pay only for results

Value proposition and benefits highlight your product differenciation. Understanding deep buying motivation helps you to find the best words to embody the unique product message which resonates with the targeted audience.

How this should influence your marketing

Going below the surface to understand deep motivations of buyers gives you insights to build an efficient message. Here are how you can use these words in your contents:

In the way you engage visitors and leads with benefits of your product

In the way you show visitors and leads the results made by first customers

In the way you ask your customers for testimonials and write case studies

In the way you build your marketing content strategy to generate leads

Results are much appropriated for the first 3 motivations, and are the most powerful message you can deliver. If you succeed in determining that investing 1 in your product will generate 10x revenues or save 10x costs / time, you'll have a very strong value proposition that matches buyers' deep motivation.

Enjoyed the article?

I'm sharing what we build and learn on SaaS products strategy and SaaS distribution. And we're learning constantly, day after day! Delivered once a month for free.

I won't spam you or sell your address. Unsubscribe - of course - at any time.